Blizzard desktop app
On March 23rd, 2017, the app was renamed "Blizzard app" with version 1.8.0 (although on the client download page it is called "Blizzard® Battle.net® app"). Although the Mac OS X version was still called just "Battle.net" with "Blizzard Battle.net" appearing in it's title bar. In mid-June 2013, Blizzard announced testing of the Battle.net desktop app and it was released as a Beta in mid-August 2013. It appears to be a unified version of Blizzard Launcher for all of their games. It has a UI that resembles the more minimalist design of the Battle.net web site as compared with the more textured UI of the game-specific launcher. This replaces the launcher for all Blizzard games, and works similar to the older launchers, with background updates, repair tool, and more. On January 9, 2018, the Mac OS X version of the "Battle.net" app requested a restart and then failed to launch, instead going to the Blizzard Error app. Some of the problem may have been incompatibility with older OSes. In early December 2017, a critical vulnerability (DNS Rebinding flaw) in the Blizzard Update Agent was reported on Chromium.orghttps://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1471&desc=3 (apparently part of the app is based on Chromium). Blizzard reportedly put out a patch in late December 2017, but did not give specifics. Blizzard never told users about the problem and the patch was only disclosed after the security reseacher mentioned it on Twitter in late January 2018. The patch was apparently mentioned in a January 5, 2017 blue post addressing user complaints about the update agent,https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20760766091?page=17#post-333 but without mentioning the vulnerability. Unexpectedly in mid-May 2017, Blizzard announced they would be hosting Bungie's Destiny 2 in the desktop app (Windows-only). This is not the only Window-only app hosted, since Overwatch does not have a Mac version. Patch 1.7 was released in mid February 2017 and added a Suggested Friends feature that added several ways to look for potential new Battle.net friends (friends of friends, Facebook friends, and Diablo friends). Agunurrom|date=02/14/2017 09:26 PM|note=edited 02/15/2017 01:16 AM}} Patch 1.6 was released in late November, but apparently was wrongly versioned and patch 1.5.2 returned the next day. It was re-released on January 10, 2017. Patch 1.5.1 added Blizzard Voice Chat with Patch 1.5.2 adding improvements and bug fixes. Eric Carter|date=3-Nov-2016 10:21 PM}} Patch 1.5 of the desktop app supposedly added streaming capability via Facebook, but only in Windows OS. The Battle.net EULA (End-User License Agreement) was updated around August 1, 2013 to go with this new app. It was updated again in February 26, 2015 around the release of Patch 6.1 to take effect February 28, 2015. Around version 1.1.0, the term "Beta" was removed from the app and related web pages, but Blizzard never officially announced the Beta was ending or a release. Unlike the game clients, patch notes are not regularly given out. So far patch notes have only been posted for v1.0.9. Features * Unified login (left panel) ** You no longer have to log in to individual games (World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, or Diablo III), as clicking play will automatically log you in. *** As of Patch 5.3 (build 17128), the UI on the game has changed to accommodate the new app. ** Switching between World of Warcraft accounts, Starter Edition, , Alpha and PTR; ** Switching between Diablo III realm groups; ** Other supported games include Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch. * Cross-game friends list ** A list of your BattleTag and RealID friends is now shown in a small window in the client. ** Current friends online shown in a middle box on game pane. ** Suggested Friends feature (added in 1.7.0.8385) * Online/offline modes * Chat (added in Beta 1.1.0.4381) ** Chat is now enabled and you are able to chat with your BattleTag and RealID friends without starting a game. * News (and info) ** Tabs to view information on all Blizzard games, patch notes, and promotions, as well as news and blogs written by Blizzard CMs. * Shop - Basically Battle.net Shop in desktop app. * Forums (NYI) - ? * Profiles (NYI) - ? * Streaming - Facebook only as of desktop app patch 1.5.0 build 7963. * Blizzard Voice Chat - As of desktop app patch 1.5.1 build 8098. * Settings ** Many options for all games, including game installation, security options, game updates, Battle.net desktop app specifics, and network details. * Installing one of the three games when they are not installed yet. The installation can be queued, meaning that if you press the INSTALL button of two games after eachother, the games will be installed in that order * The app is not dismissed when launching a game. It will continue running; * It can be minimized to Windows' System tray. It can be resized and maximized. Network requirements The following ports need to be opened: Security issues From Battle.net Desktop App Certificate Update on 21-Dec-2017 11:26 PM PST by Dylon Kempkes: :Our recent update to the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app made sure players could properly use features like logging in to Battle.net via a social network, or joining a Blizzard group via an invite link. To facilitate these features, we updated the local webserver to use a self-signed certificate to be consistent with current industry security standards. :For those interested in more detail, using these features requires your web browser to communicate with the Blizzard Battle.net desktop app. Previously, the desktop app used a certificate signed by a public Certificate Authority, meaning that no modifications to your system certificates were necessary; however, this technique is incompatible with Certificate Authority policies and we can no longer use it. :While some browsers such as Chrome and Firefox are equipped to handle browser-to-app communication techniques, the changes were necessary for other browsers. For the time being, the desktop app generates a self-signed certificate that’s unique to your machine and configures your system to trust it. 1.12.2 As of build 10404:https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20767546663 * Notification Center * Giphy Support * Link Previews * @mentions * Patching Improvements * New News tab 1.12.0 :Unfortunately Blizzard has decided only to release Beta notes which don't obviously correspond to actual release builds. Beta Build 10114 1.11.2 :Unfortunately Blizzard has decided only to release Beta notes which don't obviously correspond to actual release builds. Beta Build 9998 1.11.1 :Unfortunately Blizzard has decided only to release Beta notes which don't obviously correspond to actual release builds. Beta Build 9954 1.11.0 :Unfortunately Blizzard has decided only to release Beta notes which don't obviously correspond to actual release builds. Beta Build 9878 ;Bug Fixes * Not a lot has changed. But enough to warrant an update! 1.10.0 :Unfortunately Blizzard has decided only to release Beta notes which don't obviously correspond to actual release builds. * No longer works with Mac OS X 10.9.x "Mavericks". ** Crashes to Blizzard Error. * Has a problem with audio on Windows OS. Beta Build 9801 ;Bug Fixes * Not a lot has changed. But enough to warrant an update! Beta Build 9767 ;Feature Updates * Minimizing the App to the System Tray (by closing the main App window, and keeping Battle.net in the background) will unload the Overwatch League tab content and unload it from memory. ;Bug Fixes * Fixed a bug where clicking with the middle mouse button could load content int he wrong place. * Fixed a crash that could happen when App played a sound when volume was not set to 100%. Beta Build 9701 ;Feature Updates * Games can now be launched from he Windows System Tray and Task Bar directly on PCs, and from the Doc on Apple systems. * Updated components for the Battle.net App: ** Upgraded Chromium to v62 ** Upgraded Qt to v5.9.3 * Updates to video playback and decoding components * Added some updates to Blizzard Groups and Chats: ** Added a badge to indicate a message in a group was edited ** Updated experience for new/empty groups, making it easier for admins to manage them ** Updated experience for new/empty chats ** Made back-end improvements and enhancements to the chat system ;Bug Fixes * Fixed minor bugs and issues 1.8.5 release notes Build 9093 (07/18/2017) ;Improvements We've updated how we display the game icons throughout the app. * The game icons are smaller, allowing us to display more on screen in the Games tab. * There is now a collapsible state in the Games tab navigation allowing you to hide the game's title. 1.8.5 other notes * Game icons have a flatter look that looks more like vector art. * A release notes window appeared after the update which appears new, but this could be only in the Mac version. This has possibly been showing up in the PC version for awhile. 1.8.4 release notes Build 9061 (07/13/2017) ;Bug fixes * Fixed an issue that was causing toast notifications to display for all your online and offline friends when you first logged in. 1.8.3 release notes Build 8965 (06/26/2017) :Too much to type... aka lots of change. 1.8.2 release notes Build 8941 (06/20/2017) ;Bug Fixes * Fixed an issue that was preventing users from being able to log into Blizzard App using Facebook. Build 8800 (05/16/2017) ;Improvements * We have included a new dialog in app to remind users that Windows XP and Vista will no longer be supported later this year. ;Bug Fixes * Fixed minor localization issues in various parts of the app. * Fixed an issue with Blizzard Streaming where the in-game decal was not correctly updating the viewer count. 1.8.1 release notes Build 8657 (04/13/2017) ;Bug Fixes * Fixed an issue where friends would appear online when they were actually away. * Fixed an issue that caused chat windows to appear sluggish. * Miscellaneous bug fixes and stability improvements. 1.8.0 release notes Build 8600 (04/04/2017) ;Bug Fixes * Not a lot has changed. But enough to warrant an update! Build 8554 (03/23/2017) * Throm-Ka Travelers! We've given the App a small makeover to make you feel more at home in the Blizzard universe. Remember, together we are strong! 1.8.0 other notes * The app was renamed to just "Blizzard app" and the Battle.net logo was replaced by the classic Blizzard logo. * The Client Downloads pages were updated to reflect new name and new installers. * The name of the official forums were not changed and no patch notes were posted. 1.7 Patch notes Official patch notes... ;Suggested Friends * Suggested Friends will provide users with new and easy ways to make new friends on Battle.net: ** Facebook Friend Finder will allow users who have linked their Facebook account with their Battle.net account to find and add them as Battle.net friends. ** Mutual Friends (Friends of Friends) will also be displayed in the new Suggested Friends section. ** ‘Recently Played With’ players will be gathered from recent games you have played with people that aren't currently your friends. *** Currently only Diablo is supported, but we plan to expand this to other games in the future! ;Friends List Improvements We are adding new options for how your friends are displayed and grouped on the Friends List: * All friends currently playing a game can be toggled to appear at the top of the Friends List and will be grouped alphabetically, by game title. * You can choose to show both BattleTag and Real ID for your friends. * You can now ungroup your favorite friends. Ungrouped favorite friends will be displayed with a star next to their name. * Added an option in the Friends & Chat section of settings that will allow you to hide Real ID friend's real names from various parts of the App. ;Facebook Streaming Improvements * We have changed the way in which Facebook accounts are linked to Battle.net accounts. Linking now goes through Battle.net Account Management. * This will allow you to automatically enable Facebook Streaming and Facebook Friend Finder for linked accounts from anywhere you log into the Battle.net Desktop App. * Note: Users that have previously used Facebook Streaming will need to link their Facebook account to their Battle.net account in order to stream again. Click on the Streaming icon to begin the linking flow. ;Bug Fixes * Fixed an issue causing category names to not be properly localized in the region selection. * Fixed an issue causing key binding to be lost when restarting the Battle.net Desktop App if using a mouse button for Push-to-talk. 1.6 1.5 Video streaming In patch 1.5 build 7963, live streaming of video to Facebook capability was theoretically added the desktop app. The documentation for using this feature is rather poor as of Sep 7, 2016. Probably you will need to log in to Battle.net via Facebook, but it isn't clear. Blizzard Streaming only supports PCs running Windows Vista and up. 1.5.2 Blizzard Voice Chat improvements 1.5.1 Blizzard Voice Chat added 1.5 Voice chat? In mid March 2016, Blizzard apparently released a closed Alpha of the Battle.net desktop app with Voice chat integrated. There was even an FAQ posted on the Battle.net forums that was acknowledged by blue posters. MissCheetah|date=18-Mar-2016 09:22 PM}} However, no other official announcements appear to have been made when a 1.5 version was released in late August 2016, so this version probably doesn't have voice chat. 1.3.3 known issues 1.2.8 known issues 1.2.8 known changes 1.2.7 known issues 1.2.7 known changes 1.2.6 known issues 1.2.6 known changes 1.2.4 known issues 1.2.4 known changes 1.2.0 known issues 1.1.7 known issues 1.1.7 known changes 1.1.4 known issues 1.1.4 known changes 1.1.3 known issues 1.1.3 known changes 1.1.2 known issues 1.1.2 known changes 1.1.1 known issues 1.1.1 known changes Version 1.0.9 patch notes 1.0.9 known issues 1.0.9 known changes 1.0.8 known issues 1.0.8 known changes 1.0.7 known issues 1.0.7 known changes * Mac OS style title bar appears on main window. Version 1.0.6 patch notes Version 1.0.6 known issues Beta The open Beta was released December 4, 2013. Exeliran|date=4-Dec-2013 11:44 AM PDT}} Versions :Please add any available information. PC * ... Mac Media Images ;New window File:Blizzard_app-23-Mar-2017.jpg ;New icons File:Blizzard app-OSX 64x64 icon.png File:Blizzard app-OSX 32x32 icon.png File:Blizzard app-Blizz-OSX 32x32 icon.png File:Blizzard app-Blizz-OSX 16x16 icon.png Battle.net desktop app Battle.net_app-Beta-WoW-PLAY.jpg Videos File:Kael'thas Stuck in the Battle.net Launcher (World of Warcraft Machinima) References See also * Battle.net * Battle.net Agent * Battle.net Authenticator * Blizzard Battle.net mobile app * Blizzard Launcher * WoW Companion App External links ;Direct download links Requires logging into Battle.net account first... ;Info ;Suggested Friends and Facebook Friend Finder FAQ Agunurrom 02/16/2017 02:28 AM}} ;Streaming FAQ ;Testing FAQ and forums ;Support articles ;App download ;News Bashiok 3/14/2014 2:26 PM PDT}} Jan 30th 2014 6:00PM}} Category:Battle.net Category:Blizzard software Category:Game terms Category:Products